Various kinds of belts have been devised for centuries--in many instances for military purposes. For many years, belts were constructed of a leather strip with some type of buckling and having attached or attachable thereto, means to hang from the belt a sword, bayonet, knife, canteen and ammunition holder or other items that may be needed by the wearer of the belt. Apart from the military, belts have been specially made for the purpose of carrying tools and other items, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,600,027, 3,364,560, 4,993,614 and 5,004,136.
While belts were generally made of leather, with the availability today of various fabrics and plastics, belts have been, and are, made of a number of other materials.
One of the problems with most belts, particularly where they are utilized for the purpose of carrying a plurality of heavy articles, is that they tend to come to rest on the wearer's side hip bones, and/or offer little or no support to the wearer's back. Moreover, little attention has been given to the general comfort of the wearer, particularly where, when the belts were made of leather or webbing. Further, while most belts were adjustable, such adjustments were effected on a step-by-step basis, such as through notches or buckles provided on one end of the belt and designed to engage one of several spaced-apart holes in the other end of the belt. This often resulted in a belt that was either too tightly or too loosely fitted about the waist of the wearer.
What has been needed, therefore, is a utility belt from which articles needed by the wearer may be hung, which is particularly comfortable when worn about the wearer's waist and about which it may be precisely fitted; and, in addition, offers particular support across the wearer's back.